July
2011-07-15 12:57:02.0
We have been swimming and swimming these past few weeks. Out of nowhere (or thanks to Miss Katy the swim teacher at the Y during our 2 weeks of lessons), both kids can swim---it surprised us quite a bit. They both are really into diving for diving sticks and rings. They like to swim with their goggles on and they'll swim back and forth from mommy to the steps over and over. Kind of gives me a heart attack to have both kids in the pool with no life vests, but we've done ok so far.
We took the kids to Surfside to the beach last week, and they loved it of course. They wanted "surf boards" so I bought kickboards and told them they were surfboards. They had a big time surfing in the waves on the boards.
H&H had big fun on the 4th of July. We started the day at the parade. Both kids decorated their bikes with homemade decorations we had made, and Hadley did a great job of staying and riding her bike by her parents. Hayden not so much, he actually tried to pass the boy scouts who were leading the parade with the flags, but apparently he thought it was a race. After the parade we went to the pool, and then we had hotdogs and hamburgers with Nee for supper at our house. Hayden even watched the east coast fireworks on the TV before he went to bed!
We took the kids to Surfside to the beach last week, and they loved it of course. They wanted "surf boards" so I bought kickboards and told them they were surfboards. They had a big time surfing in the waves on the boards.
H&H had big fun on the 4th of July. We started the day at the parade. Both kids decorated their bikes with homemade decorations we had made, and Hadley did a great job of staying and riding her bike by her parents. Hayden not so much, he actually tried to pass the boy scouts who were leading the parade with the flags, but apparently he thought it was a race. After the parade we went to the pool, and then we had hotdogs and hamburgers with Nee for supper at our house. Hayden even watched the east coast fireworks on the TV before he went to bed!
End of school and back to school!
2011-06-12 16:24:45.0
Last week both Drew and the kids and I started summer school. The kids and I had two weeks off between regular school and summer school--poor Drew just had the weekend in between! Anyway, I'm teaching young 3s this summer, which would normally include Hadley but they put her in the older 3s class so she wouldn't have mommy as a teacher (good for all). She loves the Seahorses class, and Hayden loves the Angelfish class that he is in with his friends. My class is the Lobster class and is the largest class I've ever taught. It was a good first week last week.
We also had swim lessons last week. H&H liked being in the same class. Hadley had a mini-drowning episode (her sweet teacher Miss Katy wasn't looking and Hadley went under--sweet Miss Katy has just one eye and let me tell you, you need at LEAST two eyes to watch my kids at the same time) but fortunately I was watching and screaming "SHE CAN"T SWIM" loud enough to catch everyone's attention. We haven't had another incident fortunately, but I don't take either of my eyes off that pool the whole time we're there. More swim lessons this week. The kids and I have been swimming fools. We swim most days, sometimes twice a day. It is wearing me out and somehow not wearing them out, but nothing wears out my dynamic duo!
We also had swim lessons last week. H&H liked being in the same class. Hadley had a mini-drowning episode (her sweet teacher Miss Katy wasn't looking and Hadley went under--sweet Miss Katy has just one eye and let me tell you, you need at LEAST two eyes to watch my kids at the same time) but fortunately I was watching and screaming "SHE CAN"T SWIM" loud enough to catch everyone's attention. We haven't had another incident fortunately, but I don't take either of my eyes off that pool the whole time we're there. More swim lessons this week. The kids and I have been swimming fools. We swim most days, sometimes twice a day. It is wearing me out and somehow not wearing them out, but nothing wears out my dynamic duo!
Hadley is 3!
2011-05-23 11:48:42.0
May was a month of birthdays! Hayden and Hadley each went to several parties at fun places. We had Hadley's party at our house and her party was Pinkalicious! She had pink everything of course, and her cake had a tiara and wand on it. Hadley and her friends had alot of fun playing in our backyard, and she and 3 of her girlfriends had a blast destroying Hayden's bedroom--we put everything back into place before he got too worked up about it. On Monday, her real birthday, I took the kids to Pump It Up for some fun birthday jumping. Then Hadley got a special visit to Daddy's school late that afternoon while I took Hayden to gymnastics. We had home made cupcakes to celebrate at dinner!
This past week was our last week of school, complete with water parties. Tuesday the 2s classes all had our Fun in the Sun party. Hadley and her friends and my class plus two other classes played in sprinklers, water tables, ate popsicles, had Happy Meals, etc. I thought I was exhausted after that, but the following day was Hayden's class party, where I had volunteered to bring our Slip N Slides. Hayden's class had a ball doing that, playing with shaving cream, eating Chickfila, and eventually making a mud pit on the church lawn. Since I had to get the Slip N Slide out of there, which was covered in mud and soaking wet, I ended up soaking wet and covered in mud too. But we made it out of there in one piece. Thursday was the last day of school, hallelujah! We had a nice end of the year teacher luncheon and my mom watched my kids so I could go to that.
Saturday I took the kids to the pool, where they had a great time playing with friends. Apparently little ones can't feel how cold the water is, but Moms sure can. I like the water about 90 degrees. Nevertheless, we played all afternoon. We did the same on Sunday afternoon, but first Hayden and I had his last soccer game of the season and then the trophy ceremony and pizza party. Once we finally left the pool Sunday night I don't know if the kids were more tired or if I was. Today Hadley had her 3 year old checkup at the doctor, and thankfully no shots! We have (knock on wood) only been to the doctor for well checkups during the last 7 months, which is a miracle!
Tonight is Hayden's gymnastics "show", and Wednesday night is Hadley's ballet recital. We are loving our two weeks off from school! Drew has two weeks to go until regular school is over, then he starts summer school as well. Our first year here has been full speed ahead!!
This past week was our last week of school, complete with water parties. Tuesday the 2s classes all had our Fun in the Sun party. Hadley and her friends and my class plus two other classes played in sprinklers, water tables, ate popsicles, had Happy Meals, etc. I thought I was exhausted after that, but the following day was Hayden's class party, where I had volunteered to bring our Slip N Slides. Hayden's class had a ball doing that, playing with shaving cream, eating Chickfila, and eventually making a mud pit on the church lawn. Since I had to get the Slip N Slide out of there, which was covered in mud and soaking wet, I ended up soaking wet and covered in mud too. But we made it out of there in one piece. Thursday was the last day of school, hallelujah! We had a nice end of the year teacher luncheon and my mom watched my kids so I could go to that.
Saturday I took the kids to the pool, where they had a great time playing with friends. Apparently little ones can't feel how cold the water is, but Moms sure can. I like the water about 90 degrees. Nevertheless, we played all afternoon. We did the same on Sunday afternoon, but first Hayden and I had his last soccer game of the season and then the trophy ceremony and pizza party. Once we finally left the pool Sunday night I don't know if the kids were more tired or if I was. Today Hadley had her 3 year old checkup at the doctor, and thankfully no shots! We have (knock on wood) only been to the doctor for well checkups during the last 7 months, which is a miracle!
Tonight is Hayden's gymnastics "show", and Wednesday night is Hadley's ballet recital. We are loving our two weeks off from school! Drew has two weeks to go until regular school is over, then he starts summer school as well. Our first year here has been full speed ahead!!
Easter weekend!
2011-04-25 17:09:45.0
We had a great Easter weekend, which we began with a visit to Galveston! Our kids do alot of fun things in Houston, but they haven't LEFT Houston proper since we moved here last June! So we loaded up and went to the beach on Friday since Drew was off for Good Friday. I don't think I have ever seen both kids so very happy at the same time--they loved the water, the waves, and the sand. And it was a beautiful day, perfect weather--not too hot, just really nice. Hadley kept saying she was "surfing" and she would put her arms and legs out like she was balancing on a surf board. She wanted me to do it too and she would correct me if I was doing it wrong. They both liked lying down in the surf and pretending to be dolphins. After the beach, we went to eat lunch and then had a special stop at one of my favorite places on the island--La King's, a confectionary and ice cream shop. The kids had enormous cones and Drew even found a candy he really likes (which the rest of us think are gross but we'll cut our non-sugar eating Daddy some slack). He likes this candy that he used to get in Williamsburg (where we were engaged), so he bought a little bag to have in case he needed some sugar.
Sunday we had our inside egg hunt (hard boiled) before church and our outside egg hunt (plastic) after church. My parents came over for fajitas for lunch and to watch the outside egg hunt. Hayden and Hadley have completely different egg-hunting styles, which cracked us up. Hayden was interested in quantity, but Hadley was interested in finding the eggs with STUFF in them (not all eggs were filled). After my parents left, Drew took the kids to Walmart where they bought--what else--a Slip N Slide! We had played with the neighbors' Slip N Slide, so we had to get one too. H&H love to Slip N Slide!
Last week we had all 3 Easter parties at school--Hayden's, Hadley's, and my class's. I was in charge of Hayden's class party, which was a challenge since it was during my class's party. Fortunately my mom stepped in and thank goodness she did. None of the other moms showed up to hide the eggs at school, so my mom did it solo!! She was out there working so hard and hiding the eggs and fending off the men who came to mow the church lawn. The party ended up being lots of fun in the end.
We have had so many birthday parties in April, it has been alot of fun. Hayden went to Sarah's party (Sarah is in my class), Hadley went to Rowan's party at Pump It Up, Hayden went to Tanner's pirate party, and Hadley went to Isabelle and Anneliese's party at WonderWild. This weekend Hadley is going to Sophie's party (Sophie is in my class) and Hayden is going to Luke's party at the Arboretum. Party!
Last Monday we went to the zoo with Hayden's friend Addie and Addie's brother Samuel. We did the Hermann park train, the carousel, and we saw a Sea Lion "show" where the zookeeper fed the sea lions. On Tuesday we had the end of year program at our preschool, where Hadley's class and my class and the other 2s sang four (!) songs. My class managed to stay standing and that is all I have to say about that. Hayden's precious class sang Hallelu and the F.U.N. song, Westbury style. They were all so cute, and the end of year slideshow was adorable.
Sunday we had our inside egg hunt (hard boiled) before church and our outside egg hunt (plastic) after church. My parents came over for fajitas for lunch and to watch the outside egg hunt. Hayden and Hadley have completely different egg-hunting styles, which cracked us up. Hayden was interested in quantity, but Hadley was interested in finding the eggs with STUFF in them (not all eggs were filled). After my parents left, Drew took the kids to Walmart where they bought--what else--a Slip N Slide! We had played with the neighbors' Slip N Slide, so we had to get one too. H&H love to Slip N Slide!
Last week we had all 3 Easter parties at school--Hayden's, Hadley's, and my class's. I was in charge of Hayden's class party, which was a challenge since it was during my class's party. Fortunately my mom stepped in and thank goodness she did. None of the other moms showed up to hide the eggs at school, so my mom did it solo!! She was out there working so hard and hiding the eggs and fending off the men who came to mow the church lawn. The party ended up being lots of fun in the end.
We have had so many birthday parties in April, it has been alot of fun. Hayden went to Sarah's party (Sarah is in my class), Hadley went to Rowan's party at Pump It Up, Hayden went to Tanner's pirate party, and Hadley went to Isabelle and Anneliese's party at WonderWild. This weekend Hadley is going to Sophie's party (Sophie is in my class) and Hayden is going to Luke's party at the Arboretum. Party!
Last Monday we went to the zoo with Hayden's friend Addie and Addie's brother Samuel. We did the Hermann park train, the carousel, and we saw a Sea Lion "show" where the zookeeper fed the sea lions. On Tuesday we had the end of year program at our preschool, where Hadley's class and my class and the other 2s sang four (!) songs. My class managed to stay standing and that is all I have to say about that. Hayden's precious class sang Hallelu and the F.U.N. song, Westbury style. They were all so cute, and the end of year slideshow was adorable.
Visit from Nana!
2011-04-04 06:10:35.0
What fun H&H had while Nana was here! Drew went to NC at the end of spring break, and while he was gone Nana came to see us. We did everything--took Nana to gymnastics, went to WalMart (where Nana bought them Bambi, their new very favorite movie), and enjoyed spending time with Nana. Nana even babysat a couple of times so I could run a few errands. It was wonderful to have her here!
A week later, Nee and I planned to take the kids to the Hermann Park train. They had so much fun on the train ride that we decided to go ahead and do the zoo as well since it wasn't too hot. They LOVED the zoo, especially the elephants, giraffes, snow cones, and the carousel.
That Saturday night was the Parker annual auction. It had a 70s theme and thankfully my dear friend Jaime loaned us some duds for the event. The costumes were so great that we won 2nd place in the costume contest--all thanks to Jaime and Trey! There were so many fun auction items. Drew himself raised something like $1500 just for items like cleaning a student's room, "dress up Dr. Drew for a day", etc. Someone was auctioning an item where she would make a chocolate picture of your face, and she did a demo of Drew's face. I think they are going to give me Drew's face in chocolate. Neat!
On Monday my Uncle Brian and Aunt Janna came for a visit while they were in town for a wedding. Hayden wasn't being himself at all, but we soon found out why. He barfed all over the place that evening and had to stay home from school the following day. Thank goodness for Nee, who came to stay with him while I was at work. He seemed happy enough and didn't barf that day for Nee. Whew.
Last week we had Hayden's BFF Violet over for a playdate. H&H both love Violet. We also had a playdate with Hayden's other girlfriend Amelie at her house.
We pulled all of the Easter stuff out so H&H are busy hiding eggs all over the house most days. Hayden is SO into drawing these days. He likes to copy an entire book, or he'll watch a tv show and then re-create all of the characters. Last Monday he made a sign he wanted to put in our yard (so Daddy could see it from Parker across the street) and it said "DADDY COME HOME".
A week later, Nee and I planned to take the kids to the Hermann Park train. They had so much fun on the train ride that we decided to go ahead and do the zoo as well since it wasn't too hot. They LOVED the zoo, especially the elephants, giraffes, snow cones, and the carousel.
That Saturday night was the Parker annual auction. It had a 70s theme and thankfully my dear friend Jaime loaned us some duds for the event. The costumes were so great that we won 2nd place in the costume contest--all thanks to Jaime and Trey! There were so many fun auction items. Drew himself raised something like $1500 just for items like cleaning a student's room, "dress up Dr. Drew for a day", etc. Someone was auctioning an item where she would make a chocolate picture of your face, and she did a demo of Drew's face. I think they are going to give me Drew's face in chocolate. Neat!
On Monday my Uncle Brian and Aunt Janna came for a visit while they were in town for a wedding. Hayden wasn't being himself at all, but we soon found out why. He barfed all over the place that evening and had to stay home from school the following day. Thank goodness for Nee, who came to stay with him while I was at work. He seemed happy enough and didn't barf that day for Nee. Whew.
Last week we had Hayden's BFF Violet over for a playdate. H&H both love Violet. We also had a playdate with Hayden's other girlfriend Amelie at her house.
We pulled all of the Easter stuff out so H&H are busy hiding eggs all over the house most days. Hayden is SO into drawing these days. He likes to copy an entire book, or he'll watch a tv show and then re-create all of the characters. Last Monday he made a sign he wanted to put in our yard (so Daddy could see it from Parker across the street) and it said "DADDY COME HOME".
